Beaten. Homeless. Jobless. Alone.This is the state of women who appear on the doorstep of Buckner Family Place looking for help. Buckner is a faith-based transitional living facility that helps single mothers who have been the victim of domestic violence, homelessness, or poverty, and often all three. Women can live with their children in one of their 16 apartment style units with a monthly stipend, but in exchange they must attend school and work towards a degree. The program at Buckner is one of self-sufficiency, helping these women learn how to provide for themselves and their families.
That’s where The Junior League of Midland, Inc. comes into the picture. With the Suits With Skills program, these ladies are provided with invaluable education about necessary skills that can help them get back on their feet and into the job market.
For example, Brittany has been living at Buckner with her four children since December of 2014. Her story starts back in 1999 when she met the man that would become her husband.
She was a young bride, and he was the father of her first child, Alaya, in 2005. Unfortunately he passed away in 2006 from a pulmonary embolism, although Brittany says that if it weren’t for that, they would still be married today. It was around this time that Brittany got involved in the seedy world of dealing and using narcotics. That was her way of life and her income, and it was after her husband died that she went to prison for the first time.
After she got out of prison and after she had another child, Alajah-ray, with a man who has no communication with them, she decided that she needed to change. That’s when God really started to play a part in her life.
“I really started to pull back out of that life,” she says, “but before I knew it, though, I got indicted for selling drugs previously.” She continues, “I had a moment with God on my porch. I had a moment when I was really broken. I couldn’t believe I was going to prison again. I had two girls, and I was really overwhelmed and I did break down and I did pray to God and I asked him to show mercy on me, and He told me, ‘Just sit back and watch.’”
She went to prison, this time for 57 months, and she had her third child and her first son, Jordan, while she was in prison. She only got to hold him for 90 days before she was forced to release him to the care of her mother.
“I did get out a little early, about 15 months earlier than I was supposed to get out,” she says, and after she was released from prison, she came to find that her three children that had been living with her mother were suffering from abuse.
“My children were going through abuse, they were facing measures that they shouldn’t have been going through. I was able to step in at a time that they needed me the most, that’s when I came home.” When she got out this time, she says that she was still caught up in the same lifestyle a little bit, and that’s when she got pregnant with her youngest child, Julius. She says, “I came back out to West Texas, and I would say that that’s when my transition started.” She was five months pregnant with Julius when her decision was made.
“I just needed to give my life to God and completely devote myself to that change,” she explained.
Rebecca Patterson, 2014-2015 Suits with Skills Buckner Chairmen
This article first appeared in The Junior League of Midland, Inc.'s monthly publication, "Tumbleweed." Read the entire issue here->
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